


To Tell the Truth

by notverystraight



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Related, During Canon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Langst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Post-Season/Series 06, hand holding, i promise its not that bad, idk man, lance has realised who he really needs, mentions of one-sided allura/lance, this happens around the beginning of season 7 so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26768008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notverystraight/pseuds/notverystraight
Summary: Lance sorts through what he’d really been feeling lately. Keith is there to help him.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 198





	To Tell the Truth

**Author's Note:**

> This is not edited bc im very tired rn, but enjoy xxx

“Hey.”

Keith thought that was a pretty solid conversation starter. Then again, Keith was a man of few words and even fewer friends, so he wasn’t sure how well versed he was on that subject. 

Nonetheless, it seemed to work for Lance. The other boy glanced up where he was sitting cross-legged at the ledge of the cliff and offered a small wave of greeting, gesturing for Keith to sit next to him. Keith obliged, settling beside Lance with one leg dangling over the edge and the other bent with his foot propped on the ledge so that he could lean his forearm on his knee. 

They were currently camping out on some planet that Keith could not remember the name of for the life of him, a pit stop on the way back to earth. Lance, however, had slipped away from the rest of the group and come here to sit and brood about something. This wouldn’t have been unusual behavior coming from someone like Keith, but coming from Lance, who thrived on attention and the company of others… Keith knew something was up.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on with you?” he prompted, glancing at Lance. He tried not to get distracted by how the other boy’s profile seemed to glow in the soft orange lighting. 

Lance snorted. “You never did beat around the bush, Kogane.” He leaned back on his hands. “You really want me to start dumping all my emotional baggage on you?”

“Well,” Keith said with a smile, “It’s about time I started returning the favor. Come on, Lance, I’m your friend. You can tell me anything.” It was strange to be the one saying that for once, Keith thought. 

Lance seemed to consider him for a moment, before relenting. “Alright,” he nodded, then paused.

“It’s about Allura,” he admitted quietly, and Keith’s heart sank. So that was the conversation they were having. 

He briefly wished he’d asked one of the others to go and check on Lance instead, so that they could help him through this without letting their own emotions get in the way. As it was, he’d taken that upon himself for the opportunity to talk to the blue paladin alone. 

Nevertheless, Lance was still one of Keith’s best friends, and he needed to make an effort for him, despite whatever he might be feeling.

He tried to offer Lance an encouraging smile, “What about her?” he asked, hoping the other boy wouldn’t notice the strain in his voice.

“I –” Lance paused again, as if he was trying to figure something out. “I think… I thought I was in love with her.” The words seemed so small, so unsure. And yeah, Keith had been expecting him to come out with something like this, but he felt something in him twist painfully when he realized this was probably the first time Lance had told someone this.

But something seemed off about his wording. “You _thought_ you were…?” Keith pressed tentatively. 

“Yeah,” Lance said, studying his hands. “I mean, you remember how I used to flirt with her all the time back when this all started?”

“Yeah,” Keith snorted, “You were annoying as fuck.”

“Hey, I wasn’t _that_ bad,” Lance protested. Keith gave him a pointed look. “Alright, maybe I was a little,” he admitted with a laugh. “But… I wasn’t ever really serious about that, you know? I mean, she was beautiful, sure, but I never actually expected anything from her. I was just joking around, I used to do that with basically everyone back then.” 

Trying to push his own emotions aside from the situation, Keith pondered on this, and realized that he was right. Back then, Lance would try to come on to practically anything on two legs – and even some that weren’t. So really, his flirting with Allura hadn’t been all that special.

“I guess you’re right,” Keith agreed, “But where are you going with this?”

For a second, Lance didn’t speak, swinging his legs idly. Keith didn’t push it, just waited, feeling the soft breeze sweep through his hair, watching the rhythmic tapping of Lance’s fingers against his thigh.

“I was just so _confused_ ,” Lance blurted suddenly, turning to Keith, eyes intense and emotional. “So much had changed so fast – I was a million galaxies away from everything I’d ever loved, and I knew we were meant to be defenders of the universe or whatever, but I just didn’t know if I could be that. And then there was the whole lion switch, and everyone seemed to be moving forward, and I felt like I was being left behind –”

“Hey, hey, Lance, breathe,” Keith told him, grabbing Lance’s hand where it had been gesturing wildly and bringing it to rest between them, brushing a thumb over his knuckles soothingly. “Slow down. I’m here, I’m listening, just breathe.”

“But then you _left_ , Keith,” Lance’s voice cracked as he spoke, as if he were choking on the words. Keith’s chest tightened at the sound. “You left, and _everything_ was different. Pidge and Hunk suddenly always seemed to be off doing things I didn’t understand, Shiro was so closed off, and Allura had her whole thing with Lotor…” Lance seemed to trail off momentarily. “Even Coran seemed to be busy. And what the fuck was I doing? Literally nothing. I had _nothing_ to offer.”

Keith felt sick. He’d had no idea Lance had been feeling all this the entire time. He tightened his hold on Lance’s hand.

“So I guess… with everything that was going on, I saw something familiar, and I clung to it,” Lance continued, fixing a clouded gaze on the skyline. “Allura. I took my feelings for her, and inflated them. I overcompensated. I was lonely, Keith.” Lance’s shoulders dropped, “She was friendly to me when I was so lonely, and I guess I tried to turn it into something it wasn’t.”

Keith’s brows furrowed with distress. “Lance…”

“But either way, it didn’t matter,” Lance exhaled, shaking his head slightly. “She never liked me like that, anyway.”

Lance stalled, then let out a weak laugh. “I’m sorry for dumping this all on you, man, I know you didn’t come here for this.” 

“No, don’t do that,” Keith suddenly interjected fiercely, and Lance’s eyes widened, taken aback. Trying to soften his tone, Keith pressed, “Don’t… apologize. You don’t need to do that, okay? What you’re feeling is valid. I _want_ to be here for you. So, you don’t have to be sorry.” He gave Lance’s hand what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze.

Lance blinked, then his features slackened into a gentle smile. Hesitantly, he moved his hand to lace their fingers together, and despite himself, Keith felt his heart flutter a little at the action, his throat going dry. Lance’s fingers were long and nimble between Keith’s, his caramel skin warm and smooth. 

But now was not the time for gay thoughts. He needed to address some of the shit Lance had been saying. 

“You know that you… matter to us, right?” Keith said. Seeing Lance open his mouth to respond, he quickly added, “Not just in the ‘we need you to form Voltron’ way. You bring so much more than that to the team, to _us_.” 

Biting his lip, Lance scanned Keith’s face, as if he were trying to search for something. Keith met his gaze, and continued, “You’re pretty much the most versatile of the paladins. I mean, think about it, you’re the only one who’s managed to unlock _three_ Bayard forms. Most of us still only have one. “

Keith’s words were flowing now. He didn’t have to think about what he was saying, because every word was the truth he’d been thinking for so long. “And not only that, but you support the team like no-one else does. No matter what’s needed, you always come through. You’re a natural leader, taking the wheel when nobody else can, but when I had to pilot the black lion and lead Voltron, you were there for me in a way that no-one else could have been.”

Keith let a fond smile overtake his features. “What I’m saying, Lance,” he told him, “is that you shouldn’t sell yourself short. You’re important, and you shouldn’t forget that.”

When he finished, Lance was staring at him, mouth slightly parted. Keith forced himself to meet Lance’s eyes rather than letting his gaze wander to the bitten pink of his lips and the gentle dip of his cupid’s bow. 

“Thank you, Keith,” Lance breathed, after a moment of silence. His eyes were slightly watery, and a genuine smile had overtaken his features. “I know… I know I’m not actually useless, it’s just hard to remember that sometimes, you know?”

“Yeah,” Keith replied, “I get that.”

Lance squeezed his hand. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, man.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what I’d do without you either. But we’ll always have each other’s backs, Sharpshooter.”

Lance scooted closer so that their sides were pressed together, resting their joint hands on his thigh. Since Lance was sitting cross-legged, this put his knee resting slightly on top of Keith’s leg, and his breath hitched. Stupidly, Keith found himself wishing that they had something other to wear than their paladin armor, so that he could have felt Lance’s warmth against him instead of just the clack of their armor. He quickly banished the thought, his face heating slightly.

“I know we will, Samurai.” Lance murmured, and Keith’s insides melted. They leaned into each other, letting the tension seep from their bodies. Keith felt something bloom inside him, something beautiful, yet terrifying. An unmistakable flicker of hope.

Then, Keith suddenly remembered what, or rather who, this whole conversation had been about, and it wilted. Mentally, he kicked himself. He couldn’t let himself read into this too much – Lance was a naturally affectionate person, especially with his friends. Besides, Keith still hadn’t addressed the main thing that Lance had wanted to talk about.

“Hey, uh,” Keith began, a little awkwardly, “Don’t… worry too much about the Allura thing. I mean,” internally, he cringed at his clumsy wording. “Just because she doesn’t like you like that, doesn’t mean that… no-one will?”

At that, Lance let out a startled laugh. “Are you giving me advice on my love life, Mullet?”

Keith groaned, “Never mind, I was just trying to _help_ –”

“No, no, please continue, love doctor Kogane,” Lance implored, “Do tell, what wisdom can you bestow upon me, a humble loverboy, on the complex art of romance?” 

“Shut _up_ ,” Keith complained, elbowing Lance. “This is the last time I try to give you advice.”

Lance only giggled, squeezing Keith’s hand. “Anyway, I’m not too bothered about Allura,” he told Keith, who furrowed his brows. “I mean, yeah, it sucked at first, but once I sorted out what I was really feeling, that part didn’t really affect me as much?” he tried to explain. “Like, I’ve figured out what I’m really upset about. I don’t mind as much that Allura doesn’t want to be with me. She’s a good friend.”

Keith didn’t know what to say. For the entire time he’d known Lance, he’d seemed to be completely enamored with the Princess. To find out that none of that had been real was sort of shocking, to say the least.

“Besides,” Lance added, glancing at Keith almost shyly. “I actually like someone else.”

And there it was again. That stupid, warm fire of _hope_ flowering in Keith’s chest. 

“Yeah?” was all he could breathe in response.

Lance smiled down at their joint hands. “Yeah.”

And for once, Keith found it in himself to embrace that little flame in him. With gentle blue eyes gazing into his own, he let it spread to the tips of his fingers and toes, and felt it burn, burn, burn.

**Author's Note:**

> Honest feedback is greatly appreciated <3
> 
> [My tumblr](https://kosmo-mckogane.tumblr.com/)


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